Give people a snack: one day candy, another day fruit. An hour later, let them eat as much pasta as they want. What happened?

A 20% increase in pasta calories after the candy compared to the fruit.

The candy snackers consumed 825 calories’ worth of pasta

The fruit snackers consumed 690 calories’ worth of pasta

From a nutrition perspective, fruit is clearly healthier than candy. But it’s the habits perspective that matters more. fruit-better-candy

From a habits perspective, it is important to teach kids that fruit and vegetables are the go-to food. Plus, every bite pays off. The better your kids eat at snack, the less you have to worry about how well they eat at dinner.

And…reinforcing the importance of the mind: researchers speculate that the fruit snack may have produced higher expected satiety. People think they’re fuller and more satisfied so afterwards they eat less food. fruit-better-candy

Enough said!

Thanks to The Center for Science in the Public Interest for writing about this study in their Jan/Feb 2016 Nutrition Action Healthletter.